"Edward?" A soft sigh floated into the room as Bella, with her daughter clinging to her leg, walked into the room.
"What?", he hissed in reply, eyes still locked on Carlisle.
"We're going to hunting, honey. Come on." Obliviously to the terse atmosphere of the room, Bella proceeded to drag his husband outside.
Gotta love shields.
"I apologize for my over-protective son," murmured Esme, who had slipped away from the sink to snatch my empty plate. "Always trying to protect his mother." A slight edge could be heard in her voice, though I might have just imagined it.
I nodded numbly, eyes drifting to the microwave out of a long habit of hating eye contact.
Without a word, I scramble back upstairs and locked myself in my room.
Thirty minutes later, a knock that sounded similar to a bulldozer rattled the door.
"Hey, Cat! You in there?"
I buried myself deeper under the covers of the bed, cursing Emmett to the nearest landfill.
Unfortunately cursing him didn't prevent him from breaking down the door, dragging me out of bed by the arm and into the backyard. I could make out low chuckles and a little giggle from the living room. Rosalie and Alice.
"Come on, Cat! Show me some of the moves!" He swatted my shoulder playfully.
I backed away, shaking my head in disgust. I didn't like the fact that I knew how to fight and I had no wish to teach someone else the evils of it.
"Emmett, I really don't want to show you. You have enough power as it is. Aren't you happy with that?"
"No! I wanna be ninja! Please, Cat, please, you promised!"
"No, Emmett, I was…distracted. Well that and I thought you were joking."
"You don't think I can do? Well then…" Emmett stiffened before launching at me in a blur, armed with the branch that had been hidden from my view. (How I didn't notice a seven-foot branch, I don't know)
Automatically pulling my rod out of its hiding place, I made it extend and blocked his attack with minor difficulty.
He laughed before swinging the branch like a baseball bat toward me. I jumped backwards, snaring.
"Emmett, stop it. This isn't a game." I glared at him. It was getting annoying but Emmett seemed to be having fun.
He ignored my growing anger and struck again, aiming the branch for the back of my knees. I jumped on it like a balance beam and ran down it toward a shocked Emmett in a fiery rage. Grabbing his shoulders, one in each hand, I used him the way most gymnasts would circle the uneven bars. When my legs were swinging toward the ground, I tucked them in, forming a ball and just as my feet made contact with his back, I extended them and let go of Emmett as he fell face down in the grass. Doing a quick flip to land on my feet, I grabbed my rod where it had fallen and tucked it into my secret pocket before facing Emmett, who had just gotten up, a wide grin on his face.
"Emmett?"
"Yeah?"
"I'm going to bed and I'm not going to wake up until it's time for the flight to Italy. If you make sure no one bothers me for the next two days, I promise that I will teach you how to play golf."
His eyes sparkled. "Sure, Cat! I'll be your guard dog!"
I nodded, walking slowly back inside with my throbbing legs. "What you want to call it, so long as I get to sleep."